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Chivas de Guadalajara vs Veracruz – Jornada 19 Recap & Highlights

Chivas de Guadalajara came from behind to earn a 3-1 victory against Veracruz. The result extends El Rebaño’s winning streak to three games, but also ends their season, while the Tiburones Rojos suffered a second straight defeat to finish the Apertura in last place in the table.

The game started with a minute of applause in honor of Jorge Vergara, the owner of Chivas who died last week; he was also honored with a video presentation at halftime. Additionally, Carlos Salcido was playing his final game against his former team and received an ovation from the crowd, who also displayed a number of banners in honor of the defender.

As for the game itself, chances were few and far between in the opening half. Eduardo López came closest with a shot from outside the box that went just wide of the post, but then “Chofis” had to be subbed out of the game due to a shoulder injury.

Then, in the 44th minute, Diego Chávez gave Veracruz the surprise lead as he drove into the box, worked his way past two defenders, and sent a shot to the far corner to make it 0-1 for the visitors.

Chivas found a reaction in the second half, though. In the 67th minute, Alan Pulido received a cross from Dieter Villalpando, turned, and beat Sebastián Jurado to tie the game 1-1.

Pulido completed the comeback in the 87th minute when he received a corner kick at the top of the box, cut past his defender, and fired a low shot into the corner to make to give Chivas the 2-1 lead.

The final goal, in the 93rd minute, came from the unlikeliest of sources: goalkeeper José Antonio Rodríguez. With the entire Veracruz team, including Jurado, up for a corner kick, Rodríguez grabbed the ball and punted it far up field, where it bounced into the empty net to make it 3-1 for Chivas.

With the 3-1 win, Chivas reaches 25 points while Veracruz still has eight.